Hope Rises From The Ashes
by Sylvarpen
Summary: Ireland and her brother Jacob are being followed and she is desperate to get her little brother to safety. Hearing about Xavier's school for gifted youngsters, she seizes on the small ray of hope that such a school could offer her little brother.
1. A Daunting Endeavor

Ireland stood in the aisle staring at various hair dyes. She had her hoody pulled over her hair, but a few stubborn curls hung in her face and she shoved them behind her ear unconsciously, lost in thought.

The ringing of the cash-register could be heard in the back ground and various costumers chatted amongst themselves, but Ira barely noticed their presence. _"What sort of hair dye would be inconspicuous?"_ She wondered when a voice startled her out of her ponderings.

"Do you need anything miss?" A young clerk asked.

Ira nearly jumped. "I'm alright," she said recovering herself and smiling, with

what she hoped was a genuine smile.

The young man smiled back and said something more and she responded appropriately, but by the time he was gone her mind was moving frantically. "_What should I do?"_ She wondered, _"The clerk already saw me and he may recognize me and be able to identify me to the police and it's kind of obvious now if a hair dye goes missing."_ Realizing there was no hope for it and that she needed to get the hair dye now or never, Ireland took a look around her making sure no one was watching, when she was sure the coast was clear she shoved the one she had picked into her open bag.

Ireland could hear her heart beating in her ears and feel her breath coming in more shallowly. She took a few seconds to calm herself down and continued to walk casually down the aisles. She was sure she had given herself away, she wondered if she would ever find shoplifting easy. That last thought struck her with horror, she hoped she would never have to get used to stealing.

She looked around the store casually, everything in her wanting to bolt, but everything looked the same as when she walked in earlier and she knew that she and Jacob needed food and water, so that was the next order of business.

After grabbing a box of granola bars, she headed to where the large water bottles were, she grabbed one placed it in her bag, zipped her bag and started walking towards the door. At this point, Ira felt like she was going to be sick.

When she reached the doors a large group of people walked into the gas station, laughing and teasing each other about something, Ireland used the boisterous newcomers to her advantage walking quickly out the doors and avoiding anyone's notice she hoped.

Once outside, Ira sucked in a deep breath of fresh air and hurriedly made her way across the busy street and into the woods on the other side. Her stomach was still turning quite uncomfortably and as soon as she was under the cover of the trees she broke into a run. The wind whipped by her ears and the cool of the air helped to calm her nerves some, but the stress of the past couple weeks combined with the lack of sleep didn't help her stomach calm down and as she drew near to where she left her brother she began to feel very sick and before she realized what she was doing she threw up in the near by bushes, getting her hair out of the way just in time.

It took her a few moments to pull herself together and with some now very shaky legs, she began to walk to the place where she left Jacob.

Jacob looked up from his position on the ground, his face relieved at the sight of Ira, "You took a long time," he said his blue eyes troubled.

Ireland put her bag down and sat down next to him, before she responded, "I realize that," she said pulling her hood off, "but it couldn't be helped." She left out the part of her having trouble selecting a dye.

She began to unpack the contents of her bag, handing him the water first and then after he had his fill she handed him the granola bars and took her turn with the water. They stayed in companionable silence for some time, as the sun made its slow descent towards the East.

The last thing Ira took out was the hair dye; she stared at her choice for a few minutes, wondering where she was going to be able to put it in properly.

"Ira," Jay said, "Do you have to dye your hair?" His expression was sad and Ira knew what he was thinking. Their mother had loved Ira's flaming red hair, but its existence made them very conspicuous and they couldn't afford to draw attention to themselves.

"Yeah," she responded her own face troubled and she fought back the tears that threatened, it would not do to loose her countenance yet, they still had a long journey ahead of them. She turned her head away from him to regain her composure staring at the horizon, her blue eyes appearing gray as the last sliver of sunlight pierced the sky before slipping out of sight.

She looked back at Jay. He held his backpack in front of him, probably in anticipation of the cold night ahead. She saw the questions in his eyes, not sure she knew the answers he was looking for or if she simply didn't want to know them. If they didn't arrive at their destination soon, both of them ran a higher risk of getting caught and of any number of things happening and as she looked at her brothers drawn face, Ira wondered how much longer they could keep up their journey. She felt the weight of the past several months lying heavily on her shoulders and she thought she might break from all the pressure she was under, but one thing kept her moving and that was to keep her brother safe.

When they were surrounded by inky blackness and Ira had given her stomach some time to calm down and her limbs time to stop shaking, she ate a granola bar and drank some more water.

"Well," she said standing up and adjusting her bag on her shoulder, "we need to walk into the city tonight and after I've fixed my hair we can continue."

Jay got on his feet looking, Ira realized, far older than his eleven years. The world, as much as she had tried to protect him, was weighing heavily on him too and she knew he was near his breaking point.


	2. Memories

Twigs cracked beneath their feet as they continued walking. Ireland held onto Jacob's hand, her touch kept him calm, which was essential, for they could not afford for Jacob to lose control.

It was a cold spring night and the rain was more merciless than usual, as Ira thought about the first time Jay had lost control. In all fairness he hadn't lost control so much as, well… she wasn't sure what happened and when Jacob tried to explain she was left just as confused, but one thing was for sure, Jay did things… weird things. It began on the day social services came for them.

The social worker was talking with Jacob in the background about what he could pack, but Ira barely listened as she continued gazing out the window at the life around her. It was torturous to do so, but she couldn't seem to tear herself away and face the more terrifying task of leaving.

The day was a really beautiful one; it was as though the sunlight was laughing at her. The birds were singing and the newspaper boy dropped off the paper as usual. It was a cool morning; it was the type of day where Ireland would sit in her favorite rocking chair on the porch, wrapped in a blanket with a book. It was certainly not the type of day where you questioned whether or not life was worth living anymore. Everything screamed life, cheerfully mocking her hearts tortured cries of mourning and grief.

When she finally tore herself away from the window, Ireland felt weak and spent, not sure what to do, or how to make herself move and get ready to leave. It was with a great force of will and leaden steps that she finally forced herself to walk to her room and pack.

Packing probably only took Ira a half an hour, but it felt like years as she noticed every little detail around her. It was as if grief had given her some phenomenal gift of perception. It felt like time ticked very slowly by, when Ira wanted it to go back or stop all together; fading into nothingness.

Ireland shook herself out of her memories, feeling the listlessness of that day creeping through her and that would mean certain death for the both of them. Instead she committed herself to putting one foot in front of the other and trying her best to live in the present moment.

However, her mind would not let her rest and Ira found herself back at her home once again, only now they were putting their suitcases in the social worker's car. They had just closed the trunk of the car when the social worker turned and looked at them, her face pained, "Jacob and Irena. I'm afraid that we haven't been able to find a home that will take both of you." The woman had called Ireland by her real name, which would normally have made her mad, but under the circumstances she only stood in shock.

It took them a few seconds to recover themselves and when they did Jacob grabbed Ira, making it hard for her to breathe. He began to sob uncontrollably and Ireland took a few moments to realize that she was crying too. What happened in the next few minutes, Ireland couldn't remember too clearly, but the social worker tried to calm them down and seeing no hope for it, she tried to separate them. She grabbed onto Jacobs arms trying to pry them loose and Jacob screamed for her to go away, trying to get her off his arm and then it happened. One minute the woman was standing pulling on his arm, trying to get him loose and the next she was on the ground unconscious, at least that's what Ira hoped.

There was a faint scent of something that had just been burned and it appeared to be coming from the woman. Ira, after overcoming her shock somewhat, hunched down and inspected the woman a little closer. The inside of her hands were black, her right hand especially, her hair appeared singed and her clothing seemed to have small black marks as well. It was as if she had stood too close to a fire and some sparks had landed on her.

Jay **_gasped_** and started crying harder, "I didn't mean to," he cried. He kept looking at Ireland begging her with his clear blue eyes to believe him.

But, Ireland was too busy looking at the woman on the ground to pay attention to Jay's sobs. She was in shock, not sure what to do. As angry as she had been with the woman before, Ira felt terrified that she might be dead. "Oh, no, oh, no," she kept muttering. It took her some moments to calm herself down enough to check. She felt the woman's vital signs, the way she had seen them do on TV. To her great relief the woman was still breathing.

She then turned her attention to Jay, his sobs had reached a crescendo now and he kept saying over and over again, "I didn't mean to." Ira told him to knock it off, none too kindly because she knew he needed to snap out of it and shut up quick or people would hear him. "Of course you didn't mean to", she said, "for goodness sake you haven't done anything. Why do you keep saying that?" She asked, her blue eyes confused and annoyed, "I don't know what happened, but it certainly isn't your doing."

Ireland looked again at the woman, her mind moving swiftly before she turned to her brother. "Jay," she said, "we have to get out of here, but we can't just leave her here." Jacob looked at her, calming down some but silent tears still coursed down his cheeks. "Listen, to me and listen closely," she said, holding onto his shoulders and looking him directly in the eye, "you're going to get the suitcases with our stuff and hide them. You know where," Ira waited for him to nod before continuing, "and while you're doing that, I'm going to call 911 saying that a woman is lying unconscious in our driveway and that I'm not really sure what happened. Be quick, because once I'm off the phone we flee. I'm not letting them separate us. You understand?' Jay nodded wiping away his tears with his sleeve and breathing brokenly. He squared his shoulder's trying his best to be strong, but a few sniffles still escaped. Ira shooed him and she hurriedly shot in the house and called for an ambulance.

That day they began their long journey and Ira was afraid to show her face anywhere after that day. Her fear stemmed from the fact that she and Jay were caught they would be accused of attempted murder, if the woman survived and if she died, _murder_. She still didn't really know what happened to the social worker that day, but since Jay and her left the scene and they had a "motive," it certainly didn't look good for them. Ira was certain of one thing however, if they had waited that day for the ambulance she and her brother would have been separated and more than likely accused of something.

It had taken her some time to realize after that day that Jacob had somehow done something to that social worker and that it was in fact his fault, though definitely not something he had done on purpose. Now as she looked down at her brother, she wondered not for the first time, how that horrible thing had happened. What had he accidentally done to her? How was it possible to do whatever that was? She had figured out something about that after they journeyed some and that was that things somehow got burned when Jacob was scared or upset, but there was almost never a fire and Jay was never hurt. She couldn't make heads or tales of it. It was only after they were looking through a newspaper that someone had thrown away, that Ireland heard about Xavier's school for gifted youngsters. She didn't really know what drew her to it, but there was something about the man who ran the school that called to her and when Jay peeked over her shoulder he said, "That's the guy who likes mutants," it clinched it for Ira and she was determined to take Jay there. She hadn't even considered the possibility that Jay might be a mutant, but since this Professor liked mutants he might be able to help them figure out if Jay was a mutant or send them to someone who would know. Ireland didn't really know what she would do if he wasn't one, but having seized on a plan she went after it with tenacity.

Jay and she walked the rest of the night, only stopping briefly to rest, drink some water and eat a granola bar. They would then resume their long trek. The bugs were merciless and Ireland felt her irritation mounting, as she swatted at several while getting bitten mercilessly by the rest. Jay cried out in irritation, letting go of her hand long enough to swat at several of them at once. It was too dark to see Jay clearly right now, but she knew him well enough to know that his unruly dark curls were probably sticking up everywhere and that he was in bad need of a haircut, as he jumped around swatting at any insect that crossed his path. "Stupid bugs," he shouted.

Ira shushed him hurriedly, lest they be heard, but he ignored her, the past couple of weeks weighing on him. It was with a loud **_zit_** that suddenly the air around them was filled with silence and the faint smell of smoke.

Jacob walked back to where she now stood, "sorry," he said, his voice sheepish, "but at least the bugs are gone." Ira didn't comment, but just took his hand and continued walking.

It was finally with the rising of the sun that Jay and Ireland finally reached the city of Butler New Jersey. It was here that she would dye her hair and then, with their remaining money take a bus to Jersey City and then a Taxi to the school.

"We're finally here, Jay," she said, feeling like she might collapse with relief, but this was probably the most dangerous part of their journey, so she didn't allow herself to get too relaxed. Instead, she squared her shoulders and walked with determination into the city of Butler.


	3. New Beginnings

Ira gazed in the mirror at her reflection. She felt sad, her bright red hair was cut completely off and she was left with a somewhat messy, curly bob and a chocolate brown hair color. She looked down at her new clothes, a pair of ripped jeans, a sexy black shirt with a key hole back, large gold triangle earrings and a pair of black sneakers- though they didn't technically go with the look they made it easy to run. The only thing she hadn't changed were her blue eyes, even her eyebrows were dyed and she wore some dark mascara to cover her light eyelashes. She barely recognized the image in the mirror, the girl who stared back at her appeared rebellious, not the simple and unassuming person she had grown up as. She could barely believe that clothes and a new hairdo could change a person so much. In addition she looked older and more experienced in the world, this made her somewhat happy. _If nothing else_, she thought, _no one will recognize me_. With one last glance in the mirror she walked into the hotel room they had rented for a couple hours. It was a pretty sketchy place, but no one asked questions or really paid much attention to anyone and it was a perfect place to cut, dye her hair and change.

Jay was sitting on one of the beds watching TV, he was also dressed differently. It had been much harder to find something that would look dramatically different on Jay, but Ira finally found something. He normally wore Jeans and a t-shirt, usual boy stuff, but now he wore a pair of gray cargo pants, a bright green sweater with matching converses and a pair of black square shaped glasses. His hair was also cut a lot shorter than normal so you couldn't see his curls, except for a few stubborn ones that stuck out in odd places. She wet her fingers and tried to get them to stay down.

He looked up at her, his blue eyes matching hers, if was kind of funny to see him with glasses but he looked quite cute, she thought and they altered his appearance more than any of the other things he wore. She kissed him lightly on the forehead, "where did you put the tags from your clothes?" She asked him, "I need to keep them."

The look he returned to her was kind of sheepish, "I haven't taken them off yet," he said, somewhat abashed.

"That's okay," Ira said nearly sighing with relief. She needed the tags so she could calculate how much she owed the store. She didn't have the money to afford these clothes right now, so she had stolen them. However, she still couldn't stand the thought of taking something that wasn't hers, but since it was essential that neither her or Jay were discovered she had given in, promising herself that she would pay them back in full.

With the last of their stuff together, Ireland and Jay made their way to the front desk to return the key.

"Ira," Jay said.

"Yeah?" she responded absently, holding tighter to his hand as they drew closer to the front desk.

"I was wondering," He continued, "why don't we call the school, maybe they can pick us up?"

"Huh?" Ireland responded, she was looking at the group of guys milling around the front desk, they appeared engrossed in their own affairs, but they looked very sketchy and were giving her the creeps. She reminded herself that it was broad daylight and that they weren't paying attention to her. She quickly peeled her eyes away from them and tried to concentrate on what Jay was saying. He repeated his question again and this time she heard what he said.

She looked down at him considering what he had to say, it would certainly be nice not to be continuing as they were, sneaking from one town to the next, hungry, tired and frightened all the time, but she wondered if the Professor would agree to see them knowing what had happened. In person, she thought maybe she could convince him that _she_ had shoved the woman over knocking her out, over the phone, she didn't know. In addition, he may call the cops on them and if they were at the school they would have more chance of escape, or so she thought. This city was not a city to be running around in, granted, it was better than NY City, but it still wasn't all that safe. She knew from photos of the school that they were surrounded by woods, it would be easier to hide and much safer, she reasoned. Still… she really didn't want to be running anymore and Xavier's school was their only hope. If they didn't accept Jay, than there was no hope for them.

It took Jay's pulling on her arm vigorously for her to realize that she was standing stupidly at the desk and that the desk clerk was waiting, none to patiently for her to pay.

"Sorry," she blurted out, digging through her purse for the key. Finally finding it she handed it over to the clerk.

"That'll be 20 bucks," he said.

Ira looked up surprised, "What? I've only had the room for an hour."

The man looked down at her through his horned rimmed glasses, "an hour and 5 minutes to be exact and if you go over into the next hour you pay for that hour too."

"What?" she said, nearly shouting and drawing the attention of the guys standing near her. Her heart sank, _oh no_! She thought.

One of them spoke up, "If you don't have the money girly, I'll take care of you."

Ira looked over in surprise, which was her first mistake, the man talking to her was huge, tattoo's could be seen all over his body, but what frightened her the most was what she saw in his eyes. His dark eyes looked her up and down and she felt herself shiver with fear, her knees beginning to shake.

The man laughed at her obvious distress and Jacob began to squeeze her hand so hard she thought it might break.

She quickly shook herself, Jay needed her, she had to be strong for him and protect him. Shaking like a leaf wouldn't do either of them any good.

"I'm all set," she said looking him coldly in the eye.

The man was taken aback, his look appeared startled, but he quickly recovered himself, "If you know what's best for you, you'll take me up on my offer," he snarled.

Ira's anger welled up in her, "I'll do no such thing!" she said, her voice cold and biting.

The man drew closer backing Ira and Jay towards the wall. His body was bigger than she realized, but something in her had snapped and her protective instincts took over and she felt no fear, only the need to protect her brother. The people in the hotel lobby just stood around watching. Many of them bore listless expressions on their faces, though others seemed quite excited about what was happening; leaning forward in their seats or standing closer to get a better view.

Ira was just determining if she should try to break his nose, poke him in the eyes or kick him in the nuts, when the lights in the hotel began to flicker, at first only a little bit. Then they began to blink rapidly all at once. Popping noises could be heard all around the hotel, as some of them blew out. Several of them shattered and Ira found herself ducking to avoid shards of glass in her face. The man above her looked confused; he had a few cuts on his arm from the light above his head and he looked at it in a daze.

Suddenly an explosion could be heard somewhere in the hotel. Some people began to scream. The sprinkler system came on and the fire alarm began to blare loudly in their ears. People started fleeing from the hotel.

Ira turned around to grab Jacob; he lay unconscious on the ground. She nearly screamed, but she thought better of it throwing herself on the ground next to him. "Jacob! Jacob!" she shouted, shaking him profusely, "Please, wake up!"

He didn't budge, not even a flicker of his eye lids.

Ira realized that she was going to have to carry him out. She tried to carry him like you would a baby at first, but even though he wasn't that big, his dead weight combined with water pouring from the sprinkler system made him impossible to grab a firm hold of and so she was forced to put him over her shoulder, in a fireman's hold.

She somehow managed to maneuver her way out of the hotel quite well, being very careful not to hit his head on anything. She was just walking down the last few steps of the hotel when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"_Oh, no!"_ Her mind screamed. As a result of the confusion, she had forgotten all about the large man in the hotel. Now she felt herself growing sick all over again, _"What was she going to do?"_

In the position she found herself in right now, there was no way she could defend herself, but it was certainly worse to have her back to the man and not be able to see what was coming.

She made a split second decision and decided to face the man, wiggling loose from his hold on her shoulder; she turned towards him still trying to protect Jacob by facing the man at angle, her left side and Jacob away from the man and her right side closest to him.

She looked up at him in defiance and was met with the shock of her life.


	4. Help At Last

A scream nearly made its way out of her throat at the sight of the man in front of her, but Ira's terror froze it in her throat. It was definitely not the man from in the hotel, this man was terrifying. Ira found herself wishing that it had been the man from the hotel. She was finding it difficult to breathe, this man was _huge_; he looked like a giant. In her present terror he looked like he was well over seven feet, but it wasn't just his height that was terrifying but his _size._ The man was_ massive_; his entire body seemed to be made up of sinewy muscles. And his face, _oh _his _face_! His face was contorted into a malicious grin. Ira had a feeling that he could just breathe on her and that the contact would kill her.

Ira found herself frozen in place. The man's amber eyes were filled with malevolent amusement and she realized that he was toying with her; much like a cat might play with its food before eating it.

He was just about to break into a laugh, when suddenly his attention became diverted. He looked around him, like he was straining for something and he started to smell the air, looking very much like a dog.

Suddenly a growl escaped his lips, low and menacing. Ira stepped backwards and nearly tripped over her own two feet, but someone put a hand to her back, steadying her. She was about to look and see who it was, but the growling man chose that moment to jump at her. However, before he reached her another body knocked into him and Ira found herself, at that same moment, moved suddenly far away from the fight with Jacob still in her arms. She wasn't really sure how she got there, it had happened so fast.

She was shaking like a leaf now and she wondered how she had held Jacob for so long. Her legs chose that moment to give out on her and she saw the ground rushing out to meet her. In the brief seconds before she hit the ground she had the presence of mind to try and break her fall and protect Jay at the same time. Her knees hit the ground first and then her right hand shot out in a last attempt at taking most of the impact. As she hit the ground, her wrist made an awful _snap_ and waves of pain shot up her arm, just as her head hit the ground.

No blackness came to meet her and Ira almost wished it had, the agony searing up her arm was unbearable. She could still make out the growls and fighting coming from the side of the building, but from her position she couldn't see what was going, only the pavement in front of her. Somehow she managed to loose her left arm from under her brother, panting from the agony of even moving her right arm slightly. She then pulled herself into a sitting position.

A _moan_ escaped her brother's lips and Ira carefully turned him over with her left arm, looking at him in concern, "Jay," she said.

His blue eyes opened, "Ira," he said, weakly, "What happened?" His look was confused and then suddenly he looked at her, remembering, fear written on his face, "Did he hurt you?" he blurted out, sitting up a little too quickly. He held his head for a minute, momentarily regretting his hasty action.

"No," Ireland responded quietly, "You saved me." She looked at him lovingly, tears in her eyes, before she pulled him into a hug with her uninjured arm, "My brave little brother," she whispered in his hair, before kissing him softly on the head.

Suddenly a shadow came over them and Ira realized at the same moment that it was awfully quiet and she couldn't hear anymore growling. She looked up, and nearly sighed with relief, it wasn't that awful man. Instead there was a tall African- American woman standing in the way of the street lamp who was casting the shadow.

She gazed kindly at them with her warm brown eyes. She smiled and extended her hand to help them up. Her hair was completely white and she had an unusual beauty to her. Ira accepted the offered hand and was pulled to her feet. The woman helped Jay to his feet next.

"You two were very difficult to find," she said.

Ira looked at her confused, "what do you mean?"

"Before I tell you anything," the woman said, "My name is Storm and it's nice to finally meet you two." She continued, "I'm from Xavier's school for gifted youngsters and I'm here to take you there."

"But," Ireland sputtered, "I don't understand. How do you know about us? Why were you looking for us? How did you know we wanted to go there? Also, I can't do anything. The school isn't for people like me."

She would have continued sputtering, but Storm put her hand up signaling for her to stop, "let it suffice to say that there are other Mutant abilities than what Jacob has and that's how we found you."

Jacob who was standing up with the help of Ira looked at her, "Ira," he said looking at her, "You promised we would never be separated." He looked hurt and betrayed.

At first Ira looked confused, not knowing what he meant. Then understanding dawned on her, "oh," she said, "I hadn't thought that far ahead, honestly."

Jay looked at her and his face got this stubborn look to it, "I'm not going if you can't come with me and stay there."

Storm intervened before Ireland could respond, "You're both to come with me," she said, "and I'll talk to the Professor about Ira staying. Also, if he says no, you can both leave. No one will force you to stay against your will. But, he specifically asked me to bring _both_ of you."

Ireland looked at Jay; he seemed to be considering what he wanted to do. He was still weak from whatever happened to him, so he leaned heavily on Ira. His weight was exacerbating the pain in her arm and head. She was feeling weaker the longer they stood in indecision.

"Jay," she finally said, "let's go. We'll figure it out later."

Suddenly a man with dark glasses and a comely face ran towards them, "Storm," he said, "we need to go. I don't know how long it will be until Sabertooth revives himself."

He hurriedly greeted the two kids, "allow me," he said picking up Jay, before they realized what was happening.

He began to run towards the woods in the back of the hotel, Storm helping Ira all the way.

They had just gotten under the cover of the trees when Ireland felt sick to her stomach and the pain taking over. _Oh_, _how her head hurt_, she thought as she stumbled along clutching it. She felt like she could go no further when she heard Storm say something.

"Logan! What took you so long?" she said, addressing someone, "Take Irena she can barely stand."

Ira wondered, her brain fuzzy, how they knew her real name. The man responded saying something, but what, Ira wasn't sure. Things were becoming harder to understand and really see clearly.

She didn't realize that she had stopped walking until she found herself being lifted into someone's arms. She smelled the soothing smell of tobacco; it reminded her of her father. It brought her so many memories, her father smoking his cigars while he read her bed time stories, her father kissing her goodnight after an evening smoke, sitting around the bonfire with him, and the memories continued coming.

Ira felt so tired; she just wanted to go to sleep. _Daddy_, she called somewhere in her mind before she fell asleep.

**``Well, I hope you're finding this interesting. This is my first attempt and I'm finding it rather addicting.**

**```I keep adjusting the rating, mostly because it took me a bit to figure out and I just fixed this chapter, because I forgot which arm Jacob was in. Tell me if I've made any other mistakes. Thanks :) **


	5. The Mansion

Ira heard voices coming from a great distance and she felt like she was struggling to get to the surface. Someone was shaking her now and calling her name. Suddenly pain was searing its way up her arm. She sat up with a _cry_.

"Hold on. Steady," an unfamiliar female voice said to her, helping her fully into a sitting position.

Ira found herself on the floor on some sort of mat. Jay, who was sitting in a near by seat, buckled in, looked at her with concern. Ira smiled reassuringly.

She looked around her a bit. They seemed to be in some sort of aircraft and the woman, Storm was flying with the cute guy who wore the sunglasses.

Ira looked to the woman helping her, she was a beautiful woman dressed in the same black suit that Storm and the guy with the Sunglasses were wearing. This woman had a head of bright red hair and green eyes that seemed to look right through you. She smiled, "My name is Jean Grey."

"Hi," Ira said shyly.

"How long was I out for?" she managed to ask.

"Only a few minutes, but you might have a concussion so I couldn't let you sleep," Jean responded.

"Oh," Ira said.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything with me to give you for the pain, but I've wrapped your wrist. It looks as though you may have broken or fractured it when you fell."

Ira looked at her wrist for the first time, it was neatly wrapped in an ace bandaged, but it ached painfully. To take her mind off of the pain, she continued her perusal of the aircraft and its inhabitants.

Her eyes rested on a gruff looking guy sitting across from Jacob. He was wearing a leather jacket, jeans and a white t-shirt. He seemed out of place somehow. Jean noticed her looking at him, "This is Logan," she said.

He looked up and grunted, "Hey kid," he then went back to looking green and kind of sick.

Ira would have blushed from embarrassment if Jean hadn't continued, "This is Scott or Cyclops," she said pointing to the back of the cute man's head, "he goes by either."

"Hi," Scott said, not turning away from his work in the cockpit.

"And I believe you've already met Storm," She motioned to the final person on the jet. Ira nodded.

The trip went by very quickly and before she knew it, they were landing.

From her current position on the floor, Ira couldn't see anything as they landed, but she knew the feeling as her stomach slowly settled back to normal. She then saw the door/ ramp open.

The guy called Logan nearly ran to get off the jet, but Jean stopped him, "Can you help Ira back to the infirmary and Scott can you take Jacob?"

Jacob, who was looking more and more himself, began to protest, "I'm fine now, really. I just needed to rest and now I'm all better."

Ira looked at him and gave him a stern look, "you were unconscious for a long time."

Jacob cast her a pleading glance, but she shook her head.

Jean looked at Ira, once Scott had left with Jay, "how long was he unconscious?" She asked.

"Um…" Ira hesitated, "I'm not sure, it seemed like forever, but it was probably no longer than 10 minutes. I don't even know why he was unconscious."

Jean looked at her thinking.

Logan stood in the background anxious to get off the jet, "Doc, can you analyze her in the infirmary and not here?"

Dr. Grey looked at him, seeming to just remember his presence, "yes, of course," she said lost in thought.

Once she agreed he wasted no time and hurried over and picked Ira up, being careful not to jostle her arm.

The smell of cigars assailed her again and Ira realized suddenly that he was the guy who had picked her up in the woods. For some reason she hadn't made the connection when she heard his name. She felt silly and embarrassed all of a sudden.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jean had just finished looking Jay over, "Well," she said enveloping Jay and Ira in her gaze, "You're pretty malnourished and dehydrated and so using you're power made you pass out for a time, especially at that magnitude." She looked at Jay; thinking, before she continued, "the Professor will be able to help you figure out what your power is and its limitations. Also, how to use it safely, but, I can tell you right now that you're power obviously involves some sort of manipulation of electricity."

She looked at both of them still thinking, a confused look on her face, "what I still can't figure out though, is how we weren't able to find you until now. It shouldn't have taken as long as it did…" She stopped, remembering herself, seeming to shake herself out of her musings.

It was Ira and Jay's turn to look confused

"Well," she continued, "Jay I'm going to keep you hooked up to this IV for a bit and now I'm going to look over Ira."

Jean would have looked over Ira first, considering her injuries were more serious, but Ireland refused, saying she wouldn't allow her to until Jay was taken care of and rather than arguing with her Jean hurriedly looked Jay over; knowing what her findings would be before she began.

She looked at the two of them, both so protective of each other, _what had they been through?_ The weeks they had spent looking for them using Cerebrum after they saw the newspaper heading about the Social worker somehow electrocuted on the driveway of the Children's house, must have been torturous for the children. _Why had it taken so long?_ She kept wondering.

Jean had Ira lay down, as she put her through the Cat-scan. It would be a bit of a wait. _Ira looks older than her picture in the paper_, Jean thought, she knew that Ira was sixteen but now she could have passed for an 18 year old. _Except for her face_, she thought. Her face held so much pain, but it still looked so young and naïve. Jean hoped they would be able to make an exception and keep her at the Mansion, but she didn't know. Also, because she was human some of the children probably wouldn't accept her. It would be tough.

Jay stood at Jean's side, nervously his IV at his side. Jean could hear him thinking, _be okay Ira, please be okay. _She looked down at him reassuringly, he saw her smile and he seemed to relax some.

Ireland heard the clanging and banging of the machine, she tried hard to relax, but she felt claustrophobic and panicky, especially since she wasn't allowed to open her eyes when she was inside the cat-scan. She hoped she could get out soon.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"_Jean,_" Dr. Grey heard Professor Xavier saying in her head, "_How are the children?"_ He asked.

Jean was surprised he needed to ask, but she answered anyways, "_Ira has a concussion, a fractured wrist and they are both malnourished and dehydrated, especially Ira."_

The Professor continued,_ "Are they unconscious?"_

Now Jean was really surprised, she looked over at the two children talking quietly; Jay curled up into Ira's side.

Then she realized it, she hadn't even noticed for some reason, her concern for their safety and well being having been dominant in her mind, _she couldn't hear either of their thoughts right now._

"_Well, that explains the difficulty we've been having,"_ said the Professor.

"_Yes, it certainly does," _said Jean looking at Ira and Jacob, a new look on her face, "_It must be a powerful defense to keep you out Professor."  
_


	6. Gift or Curse?

~**I'm afraid this chapter isn't very good. Know that you have been warned, but I've had some great difficulty with knowing how to proceed. So, please comment and help me out or encourage me. Thanks for reading :)**

Ira woke up feeling very rested; she stretched contentedly, not opening her eyes yet and as a result she nearly knocked her I.V. over.

She jumped having startled herself and sat up straight; she looked around the room with large startled eyes. It took her moment to stop the pounding of her heart; she gripped the medical table she was on, trying not to cry. She had thought she was home and was going to go downstairs and fight with Jacob over who got the TV that morning. She hadn't slept so well since she was in her own bed and she had somehow forgotten in her wonderful rest, all that had happened.

The room she gazed at now was sterile and empty except for two examinations tables. _"Was this what the school looked like?"_ She wondered. She continued to look around the room, at nothing in particular, for there wasn't much to see. A great sadness enveloped her and she might have given into it, except she glanced at the other "bed" and realized with a start that Jay wasn't there anymore.

Ireland acted without thinking and jumped off the table. She remembered where she was, but her worry over Jacob and her rude awakening made her act impulsively. She felt herself shaking violently now,_ "what is wrong with me?"_ she wondered, feeling sick. She nearly yanked the I.V. out of her arm in her rush. _"Got to get out, got to get out!"_ She panicked. Her bare feet smacked the marble floors as she ran; trying to get out. She felt herself going down a series of tunnels that were more like mazes to her. _"How do I get out.?"_ The walls seemed to be closing in on her. Her panic was rising to a fever pitch, she couldn't think clearly anymore and as she rounded one corner she ran smack into someone.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there. What's the rush?"

Ireland looked into the face of the man talking, but she barely registered who it was. Somewhere in her mind she remembered his name, but the overpowering need to be outside was pushing all reason from her mind.

"Please," she begged, "please get me out of here. I need to be outside." Her voice was bordering on hysteria.

Scott looked at her, not sure what to do, when a voice in his head said "_take her outside. I'll…"_ The last part got cut off as Ira grabbed his hand. She looked like she was going to fall over, she was shaking uncontrollably and her hair was wet with sweat.

He made an instantaneous decision and picked her up. He carried her through one of the tunnels that led to the back of the mansion; one of the more secluded areas outside. He found a bench under a tree and set her down.

Ira immediately pulled her legs to her chest; her body still shaking, her teeth chattering.

"Are you cold?" He asked, his face was worried and he didn't know what to do.

"No," she chattered.

He looked at her, "_where was the Professor?" _he wondered, feeling more and more worried "_He was speaking to me when Ira grabbed me."_

"I'm right here, Scott," interjected the Professor; wheeling towards them.

Scott turned around; relieved.

Ira's body began to slow down to a normal rhythm, slowly the shaking began to stop and as she calmed down, she began to feel embarrassed about what happened.

She looked up from her drawn knees, the man, whom she now recognized as Scott, was talking to a man in a wheelchair a couple feet from her.

Ireland felt some relief when he stopped talking and made his way back to the mansion.

The man in the wheelchair noticed her looking at him and he wheeled his way over to her, a kind look on his face, "I'm Charles Xavier." He introduced himself, offering her his hand. She shook it self-consciously.

"You had quite a scare, didn't you?"

Ira felt her cheeks going red and she put her head on her knees and nodded.

"Do you know what happened?" He asked.

Ira looked into his kind eyes, "I've had it happen before," she said, "the doctor calls them panic attacks," she said the last part looking at the ground.

"You know," he said, "it makes sense, a lot has happened in such a short while and you haven't had any time to process what's happened."

Ireland didn't know what to think, she looked at him, his eyes were so kind, but she wanted to curl up in a ball and never come out again. _Her life was ruined. Why did her parents have to go? They left her and Jay and now she was going to have to live on the street or in jail_. Her thoughts began to spiral downwards when she felt a hand on her arm, she looked up.

Jay looked back at her, "Hi, Irena," he said, calling her by her real name.

She hadn't even noticed his approach.

"I'm sorry I left you," he looked really sad, his blue eyes begging for forgiveness.

She looked back at him and smiled a weak smile, "It's not your fault, Jay."

He sat down next to her and she held him close to her side, taking more comfort from her little brother than she would have admitted. _She was suppose to be the strong one, not him_, but it felt nice to have him snuggled at her side. _Maybe they could make it after all._

000000000000

Charles Xavier left the children in Jean's capable hands, telling her that they would meet once she got the children situated.

Jean agreed to show the children to their rooms, bandage up Ira's arm and meet him in his office.

It didn't take Jean long to find someone to show the kids their new rooms and get them something to eat and within fifteen minutes she was in his office; Scott, Storm and Logan in her wake.

Storm wasted no time in speaking, "this is about Ira isn't it?" she said approaching his chair.

"Yes," he said, "but it is not what any of us expected."

They looked at him, Jean and Scott looked concerned. Storm appeared curious and Logan unmoved as normal.

"Something wrong with the kid?" Logan asked, for once not smoking.

Xavier looked at him, "No, but it's pretty clear now that she has some sort of mutant ability and a strong one at that. The extent of her abilities are as of yet unknown, but," he said looking at them, "I can not read her mind and I fear that her ability may have turned inwards, a small side affect could be her panic attacks…"

Wolverine looked at him, "What is that suppose to mean?"

Jean answered, "It would as if Rogue's power suddenly turned on her and started to kill her, or if Pyro started burning on the inside, but with her power we don't know enough about it to know what's happening…"

"The results could be devastating for her and potentially for us," the Professor finished.


	7. With the Rising of the Sun

Ira slept well her second night at the mansion, because Dr. Grey had given her a sedative.

She opened her eyes cautiously, feeling a little wary about what the day held. She hadn't looked around the mansion at all the other day, because after her panic attack she had gone to bed for the night. Ireland was very shy by nature and felt very nervous about meeting a ton of new people. In addition, she didn't know if she could stay and she worried about where she was going to go, if that was the case.

Her blue eyes traveled around the interior of the room. It was a simple room; a single bed, desk, dresser, night stand, lamp and closet.

She stepped cautiously out of her bed and headed to the bathroom. She shared a bathroom with the room next door and she made sure both doors were secured before she relieved herself.

Ireland looked at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes seemed large on her face and without her striking red hair her blue eyes seemed more intense than usual. She put her hand through her short bob, sighing in resignation.

A knock could be heard at the door and she called, "just a minute!"

With one last quick glance at her reflection, Ira unlocked the doors and scurried back into her room.

She hurriedly made her bed and put back on the only clothes she had; her black shirt and jeans.

With unnecessary caution, Ira walked out of the room and into the hallway. She tried to remember which way the stairs were, but she felt confused.

"Need help?" A small voice said at her right.

Ira turned and looked into the "bright" and smiling face of a little girl. She was beautiful and her smile literally dazzled her. It took Ira a moment to recover herself.

"I'm afraid I don't know how to get downstairs," she said with a smile, unable to help responding to the girl's joyful spirit.

The blond angel, because that's how she looked to Ira, giggled a little causing light to bounce off the walls and ceiling. Ira wasn't sure what she found so funny, but she nearly laughed with her.

"There are lots and lots of stairs," the girl said, her amber eyes filled with mirth. She then took Ira's hand, "I'll show you the kitchen."

The girl's hand felt unusually warm in Ira's hand and as the girl bounced down the hall leading her to the kitchen, light shone off of her curls and every part of her body, even her clothes seemed to emit light.

They entered the kitchen; the little girl excited the whole way. Ira wondered what she found so fun, but she wasn't given much of a chance to speculate, because when she entered she realized that they weren't the only ones in the kitchen. One of the people in there was the Scott guy and he was the last person she wanted to see. She began to back out of the room, but the little girl chose that moment to squeal, letting go of her hand and flinging herself at Scott.

He laughed and picked her up into his arms, "Good morning Sundance."

She smiled and proceeded to rattle on about something she had made for him while he was gone. He listened attentively, her light shining off his face and reflecting off his glasses.

Ireland knew it was too late to back out of the kitchen, because he had already seen her. Besides, she was very hungry. Her stomach growled, as if on cue and she wanted to sink through the floor with embarrassment; her cheeks flared an annoying shade of red.

"Sundance," Scott interrupted her ramblings, "you've forgotten about our guest and that isn't polite." He gave her a stern look. She looked slightly chagrined.

He smiled and placed a kiss on the cheek before putting her down.

Sundance 'beamed' up at him before he left and then hurried over to Ira.

He smiled briefly at Ira and then he left the room; sensing her discomfiture.

"What's your name?" she asked, not skipping a beat and grabbing Ira's hand again.

"Ireland," she answered, "I heard you're Sundance."

The child grinned in response, "Yeah, Professor Savior named me that," she pronounced the X like an S and Ira found it amusing.

"How old are you?' Ira asked.

The girl screwed up her face thinking, she began to count on her fingers slowly, "Six," she said, "I'm the youngest here and Savior found me."

It seemed his "new" name was very apt; he certainly did a lot of saving around here.

Dr. Grey chose that moment to walk into the kitchen.

Sundance grinned at her, but didn't rush over to her like she had with Scott.

"Good morning Ira. Good morning Sundance. How did you sleep?" she looked at Ira when she asked the last question.

"Well, thank you," Ira responded, years of her father drilling proper English into her kicked in, he would have shuddered if she had said she was doing good.

Jean smiled at her, "Good, I'm glad."

"The Professor would like to see you, once you've eaten breakfast," she continued.

Ira's face fell and she wished that she had already eaten; she felt like a jumble of nerves right now.

Jean noticed her pale face and hurried to reassure her, "We're not sending you away Ira. The Professor just wants to talk to you."

Ira looked surprised, but recovered herself rather quickly, "okay," she said. She wasn't sure how they could keep her here, but maybe they had some plan or were willing to allow her to stay until she got her feet on the ground.

Sundance chose that moment to pull on her arm, "What can you do?"

Ireland looked into the girl's amber eyes, they shone just like the rest of her and she wasn't sure how to respond, "I can't…"

She would have continued but Jean cut her off, "Sundance! You know that's not polite. You never ask that right away."

Sundance actually looked sorry this time and she hung her head down, her "light" dimming some, "I'm sorry."

Ira smiled at her, "Its okay." She wasn't sure how it was a rude question, but she decided that even if she had wanted to ask what someone's power was, she wouldn't.

Then Jean ushered Sundance out of the kitchen, telling her to do her chores before classes began.

Sundance shot Ira another dazzling smile before she ran out of the room.

Ireland couldn't help smiling, "she's cute," she said.

Jean smiled too, but shook her head, "and she knows it too."

"We're not sure why her mutation surfaced at such a young age, but she's a good girl. However, be careful when she gets mad. She doesn't mean to, but she can hurt people," Jean finished, making sure that Ireland knew she was serious.

Ira wasn't sure how Sundance could hurt anyone, but then again she didn't have much experience with mutants.

Jean began to show Ireland around the kitchen and Ira listened as closely as she could. The kitchen was _huge_. _"Mom would have loved to work in a kitchen like this,"_ she thought, her eyes caressing the polished surfaces.

There was a huge window, behind the island, that looked out onto the carefully manicured lawn.

She realized as she looked around more, that she would spend a lot of time in here, if she was allowed.

Jean finished the tour, telling Ira that she could help herself to anything in the kitchen, unless it was labeled with someone's name. There were some people with allergies and they could only eat certain foods.

"Now," Jean said, "would you like some breakfast? I can make fried eggs or pancakes."

Ira smiled, "thank you, but you've been so kind. Would you mind if I made us something?"

"Well, I'm afraid I'm kind of an awful cook, so that might be best," Jean said laughing a little.

"I'm sure you're perfectly fine at it," Ira said with a smile, "but I love cooking and I especially like cooking for other people."

Jean smile again, "Okay."

With that, Ira went to work.

She began to chop vegetables; onions, garlic, peppers, ham and mushrooms. Ira then sautéed them in oil and lastly whipped up some eggs. She cooked the eggs and filled them with the vegetables, ham and then some cheese. She then put salt and pepper on top and handed an omelet to Jean and then ate one herself.

"Wow," Jean said, "where did you learn to cook."

Ira felt a laugh begin to bubble out, unexpectedly, "My Mom, but this isn't exactly first class dining."

"I'm serious," Dr. Grey said with a smile, "the options I offered you were the only things I knew how to cook."

A giggle escaped Ira's lips before she could stop it. She quickly schooled her features, but Jean caught her expression.

"I'll have you know, that scrambled eggs are difficult to make and they have to be just right or they taste terrible," Dr. Grey said.

A full out laugh escaped and Ira nearly snorted the milk she was drinking.

They continued on in their easy like banter until they had finished eating.

"I left Jay an omelet. Can you make sure he gets it?" Ira asked when they had finished washing the last dish.

"Yes," Jean said, her eyes filled with mirth "but it may cost me my life. Hungry boys and men can be pretty violent."

"I'm sure you can handle them," Ira smiled.

Ira walked out of the kitchen, planning on heading to Professor Xavier's office, when she realized she didn't know where it was.

"You lost?" she heard a voice behind her say.

She turned toward the voice; it was a boy about her own age, though he may have been older, because she had to lean her head back some as he drew closer.

He grinned, "They tell me I have to lay off the milk."

He extended his hand, "My name is Sam Guthrie, or Cannonball, whatever you prefer," his smile was warm and Ira felt herself smiling back as she took the offered hand.

"I'm looking for Professor Xavier's office," she said, still feeling shy.

"Okay," he said with ease, "I'll show you where it is."

She fell into easy strides beside her and she realized while walking with him, that he wasn't as big as she thought. He looked like he was probably about six foot even, but she was only 5'3", so he appeared huge to her.

If he noticed her scrutiny, he didn't say.

"Here we are," he said, standing in front of two large wooden doors.

She looked into his blue-grey eyes, "thank you," she said before turning to knock on the door.

"Come in," Professor Xavier called.

"Wait," Sam said, putting a hand on her arm to stop her, "what's you're name?"

Ira felt her face go red, "Ireland," she blurted out, before rushing into the Professor's office and closing the door behind her. She felt stupid, _"Why hadn't she given her name when he introduced himself?" _

She felt like such a dolt and would have kicked herself, but the Professor interrupted her musings, "Ira, Please have a seat," He said, with a somewhat amused smile on his face.

Ira moved from her position at the door and walked over to the chair Xavier indicated.

When she had seated herself, he said, "Now, Ira I have some things I need to tell you and that I need to ask you."

**~I had alot of fun inventing the character of Sundance, I hope you all enjoyed her and I hope this was an interesting chapter. I realize that it wasn't as exciting as past chapters, but I wanted to show a more light hearted side to things. **

**Congrats on anyone who knows about Sam**

**Please continue to tell me what you all think :) I'm always open to improvements :) and it always helps to have encouragement. **


	8. Discoveries

Ira's previous embarrassment vanished as she looked into the Professor's kind eyes. His blue eyes held various emotions beneath their depths and Ira felt apprehensive about what he wanted to say.

Xavier seemed to sense her worry and so he spoke without pre-amble, "My dear, it seems your brother is not the only one with a gift."

Ireland stared back at the Professor, perplexed. Her eyebrows were furrowed with confusion, "I'm not sure I understand."

"You, Irena are a mutant."

Ireland stared back at the Professor in stunned silence for a few moments. "But," she said, when she finally found her voice, "I can't do anything. I couldn't even protect my brother when that guy went after us."

Xavier smiled, "You did. Though, you didn't use your power then."

Now Ireland looked very confused, "Professor, you've lost me."

His face filled with amusement, but it flickered out just as quickly and he continued in a more serious fashion, "What you can do is not visible. Though, if the right circumstances came into play, they would be unmistakable."

He paused for a time seeming to collect his thoughts, Ira waited patiently for him to continue.

"My mutant ability is to read minds," he continued, and Ira's face turned beet red, even though she wasn't thinking anything embarrassing at the moment.

The Professor hurried on, noticing her discomfort, "However, I can not read your mind, Irena," he finished looking at her, his expression seemed almost worried.

Ireland was relieved, but she was still confused and she wondered why he looked so worried, "Is that a bad thing?" she asked.

Xavier met her gaze; thinking, "Not necessarily, but I don't understand the nature or limits to your ability and it is important that we find out."

"Okay," she said, "what does that involve?"

"Well, that was the question I needed to ask you."

Ira looked at him expectantly.

"May I look into your mind?" He asked.

Ireland looked surprised, "But, I thought you just said you couldn't read my mind?"

"Yes, not without your permission, but my hope is that with your permission, I may be able to and if that fails, hopefully I'll at least be able to discover something about your ability."

She looked into the man's kind eyes, not sure what to do. To reveal her innermost musings, seemed horrible, however, she had a sense that there was more importance to discovering the full extent of her "abilities" than met the eye.

Ireland didn't answer for a little while; Xavier waited, patiently.

Finally she consented, "alright," she said, not feeling very sure.

"Okay. Now, I'm going to put my hands on the sides of your head."

When Ira assented, he moved to do as he said, his wheelchair moving closer.

"Now close your eyes and relax."

Ira tried to do just that, but she was mostly worried about thinking only certain thoughts. Though, what those thoughts were she hadn't the foggiest.

000000000000000

Charles found himself standing in a gray hallway, the nature of the place was non-descript. It was very silent here. He didn't even remember a time when such a silence existed. For so much of his life he had heard the thoughts of others, often times background noise, but always present.

He tried to get a feel for the place he was in, but the walls held no more answers than the silence around him. Everything looked the same and he was somewhat afraid to venture forward.

He put his right hand on the wall closest to him, it felt like smooth steel. He rapped his knuckles on it to see if it made a sound and with that he lost contact.

He found himself back in his office, sounds filling his head again.

Ira was rubbing her head, "does it normally hurt."

He looked at her; apologetic, "I'm sorry," he said, "It's never hurt anyone before."

A new expression came over Ira's face, "Is that why my head hurt when I saw you the first time and then off and on at different times?"

Xavier seemed surprised, "It did affect you then?"

Now, she looked confused, "What?"

"With you I had to _try_ to read your mind. With everyone else, it just came without thought. It may have been that when I was trying, it gave you a headache."

"Oh," Ira said, her expression understanding.

"Did you hear anything?" She asked.

Xavier looked at her, a thoughtful expression on his face, "No," he said, "It was more silent than it's been for me in a long time."

Ira wasn't sure whether to be glad or not. She was relieved that he didn't know her thoughts, but at the same time he seemed to find it important to read them and she felt bad that he hadn't had any success.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Do you want to try again?" She asked the question feeling very hesitant.

The Professor looked up in surprise, "You would be willing to try again?"

Ireland was very hesitant indeed and she felt torn, she was about to answer with a yes when Jacob came running into the room.

She was up and out of her seat in seconds, "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing," he said, "I heard that you had to talk to Professor and I wanted to be with you."

Ira was trying to calm her frantic heart and trying not to yell at him at the same time, "Jay, you know better than to barge into a room like that," her voice was shaking and her anger was starting to get the better of her.

"I'm sorry," Jay said, hanging his head.

She took a deep breath, "Apologize to the Professor," she said.

Jay looked very sheepish indeed, "I'm sorry. I didn't think."

The Professor smile understandingly and he didn't look in the least put out, "I understand that you were worried about your sister. If you would like, you can sit with us for a few minutes while we discuss certain things."

A look of relief came over Jay's face and he smiled, "thank you, Sir."

He looked to Ira next, waiting for her approval, she nodded and then she took his hand and had him sit in the seat next to her.

"Now," Xavier said, "Irena, are you sure, you would like me to try again?"

She looked at him feeling very hesitant indeed.

"I promise that I will try my best to be very gentle."

Ira 'sighed,' "Okay," she said.

Xavier took up his position again, placing his hands on the side of her head.

He found himself in the hallway again, it was the same steel walls and he felt himself encompassed by silence again. He took some steps forward, curious where the hallway would lead, if it led anywhere. He traveled for some time. The hallway seemed to lead nowhere. There were no openings, no signs of life and most of all, no sounds. _How could such silence exist?_ He wondered.

Charles looked to the walls again and noticed something he hadn't seen before. The walls seemed to be pulsing, as if they had a life of their own. He made his way closer for a more careful inspection. _How had he not noticed this before? _He reached out to touch the wall and with a _**gasp**_ he lost contact; pain ripping through his mind.

He heard the children yell for him and his last thoughts before the darkness ran out to greet him were, '_How did Jay do that?_'


	9. Silence

**Thanks so much for the encouragement! I've been writing this for the past several days. I was very happy to find that you guys were still interested. Thank you! ****and sorry it's taken soooo long to write. Time is really scarce for me. Hope you enjoy **

Charles felt himself coming to slowly. He heard voices all around him, saying things he couldn't quite decipher. It was Jean's mental prodding that finally got through to him.

"_Professor, wake up,"_ she insisted, her thoughts worried, but firm.

With her thoughts finally breaking through his disoriented mind, he opened his eyes and came fully awake.

He was still in the office he noted, he still felt a little confused, but his mind was slowly becoming clear. He looked at Jean; she was bending over him, her face concerned.

"_I'm alright," _he told her mentally.

She looked relieved, but didn't hurry to straighten herself, _"I'm going to check you over in the lab,"_ she said mentally.

He noted the determined tone to her thoughts, _"In a moment,"_ he said, before he backed up and looked around at the other people in the room.

Jean was startled by his speed, but she didn't object, in fact she hadn't had time to object.

Logan, Storm and Scott were all standing close by, but well enough out of Jean's way, so she could look him over. Scott and Storms' thoughts were worried and surprised. Logan, on the other hand, was curious about what could possibly hurt Xavier, there was a slight edge of concern to his thoughts, but Charles realized that was because he didn't think much could hurt him.

Many of the students were standing outside of the office, their expressions worried, some were even giving Ira dirty looks.

Ira meanwhile looked as though she had been crying; she looked at him, her expression not entirely readable. He noted worry and…. fear? He wondered where that came from, she looked like she had been scared for him, but it was more than that. Jay held on to her arm protectively, his eyes sending a clear message to the students milling around the door.

Then it clicked, Ira seemed scared about what he was going to do, or maybe what the students were going to do. Xavier looked at some of their angry expressions, particularly stopping at John's.

John worried him to no end, he led a very troubled life and he wished he could get through to him, but there was so much violence in him. He stood now, looking at Ira, his thoughts running all over the place. He was angry, but intrigued and his emotions were warring between the two of them.

Before Xavier could dwell on what John was thinking too much, he quickly spoke to the students, "I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm fine now and before any of you lay judgment on anyone's door, remember that all of you have had trouble controlling your abilities at one time or another."

Charles looked them each in the eye, driving his point home. He then sent them back to their classes.

Once the children were gone, with the exception of Jay and Ira, the X-Men walked closer to Xavier, pulling up chairs, or in the case of Wolverine, sitting on the desk.

"I'm so sorry, Professor," Ira said, the first to speak. She had tears in her eyes, "I don't know what happened," she continued.

He looked kindly at her, "it's not your fault. It wasn't something you did purposefully."

Ira didn't look too convinced, but he knew it would take her time to realize that it was all okay, on her own.

Charles turned then, looking at all of them, hearing their thoughts clearly, relieved not to be in silence anymore. He was sorting through some thoughts of his own, when he realized that it wasn't just Ira's thoughts that he couldn't hear, but Jay's as well.

He looked over at them again, Jay still had his arm linked securely with Ira's, but now she had her cheek resting on his head. They both looked exhausted.

"Professor," Logan interrupted his thoughts, "What happened?"

Xavier looked back at Logan, "I'm not sure," he responded.

Jean took that moment to come towards him, "Professor, I need to look you over now."

He sighed in response, but he moved his chair to obey.

Suddenly, an idea struck him and he stopped, "Jean," she looked at him, curious; "I would like to try one last thing," he continued.

She appeared hesitant.

"It will only take a moment," before she could respond, he wheeled over to Ira.

Ira's blue eyes were huge.

"It's okay Ira," he said reassuring her, "what I want to try won't hurt anyone."

She looked unconvinced, "what do you want to do?" she asked.

"Can Jean link hands with you?"

Ira raised her eyebrows at this, but Jean caught on to what the Professor was getting at, "It'll make sense in a minute," she said to Ira.

"Fine," Ireland said, so Jean grabbed her hand; her look expectant and curious.

The room fell completely silent for few minutes. Storm, Scott and Logan, waited, all wondering what the Professor was doing. Wolverine, however feigned indifference and finally lit a cigar.

"Phenomenal," Xavier said, breaking the silence, his expression was filled with amazement.

Jean looked at him, curiosity etched on her face, "Well?" she said.

He looked at her, "I can't hear your thoughts either."


	10. Quandary

Ira left Xavier's office, staring at nothing in particular. She felt so overwhelmed and worried. She hoped the Professor would be okay, he seemed fine when Jean rolled him out to take him downstairs to be looked over. That was somewhat comforting, but she felt upset that she had somehow managed to hurt him.

She looked down at her body, wondering how she had hurt him. Her frame was very slight and at 5'3" she wasn't exactly a giant. _How did I do it?_ She suddenly felt angry; she didn't want to be mutant. Only hours before she had wished that there was some way she could stay with Jay, "_but not this way?_" she groaned. She didn't see anything wrong with him being a mutant, but she was another matter. _What if she accidently hurt him or someone else or maybe even __**killed **__someone?_

She stopped in the middle of the hallway filled with horror. Jay was still holding protectively on to her arm and she nearly made him let go in her panic, but she thought better of it, knowing he would be hurt. Instead she tried to keep her voice calm and think of some reason to make him leave her. .

She looked closely at Jay, while her mind tried to process what to do. Every minute meant another minute he or someone else could be _**dead.**_ She pushed that though from her mind, trying to figure something out.

She noticed for the first time that day, that Jay was wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday. She thought quickly, an idea forming, "Jay," she said, "you wore that yesterday. What are you doing?"

He stopped momentarily and looked down at his jeans and t-shirt. It was a new shirt, as most of their clothes were left behind when they fled; it had two ninjas fighting on the front, "It's my favorite shirt," he said defensively.

"I know that, but it's dirty. You need to go and change it," she said.

Jay's previous protective stance gave way to a stubborn look and he crossed his arms, "I don't need to, it isn't dirty yet."

Ira gave him a stern look, "Now, Jacob."

To her utter relief, he gave once last parting scowl, before he left her side and went to change.

Once he was around the corner and out of sight, Ira quickly went outside. She didn't know where she was going or how she was going to get there, but she knew that she needed to leave.

She made her way quickly across the grounds, feeling tears forming in her eyes. She had fought so hard to stay with Jay and now she was forced to leave him.

"Hey," a voice she didn't recognize shouted behind her.

Ireland turned, wiping the tears quickly off her face, before they noticed. The voice belonged to a teenage boy, who was making his way quickly towards her.

He had blond hair, which he combed back away from his face.

"Why are you running away?" he asked, when he got closer, he looked genuinely curious, but there was something about him that made her not trust him, but she decided to answer anyways.

"Because, I don't want to hurt anyone," she said.

"It's a little too late for that," he said, anger now evident in his voice.

Ira felt rage beginning to build up inside of her, at his callous remark and she spoke, "How _dare_ you," she said, her voice deadly cold.

He looked back at her, his look challenging. He then took a lighter out of his pocket and before Ira knew what was happening, a ball of fire was headed towards her. It happened so quickly that she didn't have time to get out of the way.

Suddenly, her body was encased in flames, she felt a scream beginning to form in her lungs, but before she could act on it, she realized quite unexpectedly that the flames didn't hurt. She stared at them fascinated.

She moved her arms and watched how the flames went with her. It was warm, but not too hot and though they seemed to stay on her skin for awhile it never got too warm.

She could hear the guy speaking, but she couldn't hear him over the flames surrounding her. She felt her fascination giving way to fury. She was _pissed._

She vaguely heard yelling, but like the guy's voice it was lost by the flames licking her ear. She had enough and without realizing what she was doing, she flung the flames back into the guy's face sending him sprawling on the ground.

"Don't try that again!" she spat, at his sprawled form on the grass. His expression appeared stunned momentarily and then something else flickered across his face, something she couldn't define.

She was about to continue her exit, when she realized that there were more people than just him standing around now.

Another guy around the same age stared at her, his icy blue eyes stunned. He held onto the gloved hand of a beautiful girl with a white streak in her long brown hair. She also seemed surprised, but Ira thought she noticed a little something like amusement in her expression.

"Serves you right, John," she said to the guy on the ground, laughter now clearly evident in her voice. She had a pretty southern accent and Ira wondered where she was from.

The other guy seemed more serious, "You could have really hurt her," he said to John.

John just scowled, "Lighten up, Bobby. Besides, I didn't hurt the Professor, she did," he said, now standing up.

Ira felt her anger coming back and she would have said something, but the girl interrupted, "Hi," she said, extending her gloved hand, evidently ignoring the guys, "I'm Rogue."

"Hi," said Ira, accepting the offered hand, "I'm Ireland or Ira for short."

Rogue looked at her, closely; the guys were still arguing amongst themselves, "If you leave, you may never be able to control your powers. The Professor can help and I heard Dr. Grey say that he's fine; just a little shock is all."

Ira felt some relief from what she was saying, but she was still scared, "but, what if it was worse? What if I accidently _kill_ someone?" she said.

Rogue's answer was very matter of fact, "If you leave now, you'll always live in fear and you'll never know if you can control your powers."

Ireland realized that she was right, but she was afraid to return. If she went back to the school, she could hurt someone else, but most especially she could hurt Jay and she would rather die than do that.

"I think I'm going to stay here awhile and think it over."

Rogue seemed to hesitate, "Okay," she said.

She then walked over to where Bobby and John were arguing and grabbed Bobby's hand and made them both go back to the mansion with her.

Ira watched them leave, finally alone with her thoughts.

**Please keep up the reviews and I'll keep snapping out chapters. Thanks again!**


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